A Three Dimensional Structure (3DS) Memory (100) allows for physical separation of the memory circuits (103) and the control logic circuit (101) onto different layers (103) such that each layer may be separately optimized. One control logic circuit (101) suffices for several memory circuits (103), reducing cost. Fabrication of 3DS memory (100) involves thinning of the memory circuit (103) to less than 50 microns in thickness and bonding the circuit to a circuit stack while still in wafer substrate form. Fine-grain high density inter-layer vertical bus connections (105) are used. The 3DS memory (100) manufacturing method enables several performance and physical size efficiencies, and is implemented with established semiconductor processing techniques.

Three dimensional structure memory

Performance of deep-submicrometer very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits is being increasingly dominated by the interconnects due to decreasing wire pitch and increasing die size. Additionally, heterogeneous integration of different technologies in one single chip is becoming increasingly desirable, for which planar (two-dimensional) ICs may not be suitable. This paper analyzes the limitations of the existing interconnect technologies and design methodologies and presents a novel three-dimensional (3-D) chip design strategy that exploits the vertical dimension to alleviate the interconnect related problems and to facilitate heterogeneous integration of technologies to realize a system-on-a-chip (SoC) design. A comprehensive analytical treatment of these 3-D ICs has been presented and it has been shown that by simply dividing a planar chip into separate blocks, each occurring a separate physical level interconnected by short and vertical interlayer interconnects (VILICs), significant improvement in performance and reduction in wire-limited chip area can be achieved, without the aid of any other circuit or design innovations. A scheme to optimize the interconnect distribution among different interconnect tiers is presented and the effect of transferring the repeaters to upper Si layers has been quantified in this analysis for a two-layer 3-D chip. Furthermore, one of the major concerns in 3-D ICs arising due to power dissipation problems has been analyzed and an analytical model has been presented to estimate the temperatures of the different active layers. It is demonstrated that advancement in heat sinking technology will be necessary in order to extract maximum performance from these chips. Implications of 3-D device architecture on several design issues have also been discussed with special attention to SoC design strategies. Finally some of the promising technologies for manufacturing 3-D ICs have been outlined.

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3-D ICs: a novel chip design for improving deep-submicrometer interconnect performance and systems-on-chip integration

A device integration method and integrated device. The method may include the steps of directly bonding a semiconductor device having a substrate to an element; and removing a portion of the substrate to expose a remaining portion of the semiconductor device after bonding. The element may include one of a substrate used for thermal spreading, impedance matching or for RF isolation, an antenna, and a matching network comprised of passive elements. A second thermal spreading substrate may be bonded to the remaining portion of the semiconductor device. Interconnections may be made through the first or second substrates. The method may also include bonding a plurality of semiconductor devices to an element, and the element may have recesses in which the semiconductor devices are disposed. A conductor array having a plurality of contact structures may be formed on an exposed surface of the semiconductor device, vias may be formed through the semiconductor device to device regions, and interconnection may be formed between said device regions and said contact structures.

Three dimensional device integration method and integrated device

A method for bonding at low or room temperature includes steps of surface cleaning and activation by cleaning or etching. The method may also include removing by-products of interface polymerization to prevent a reverse polymerization reaction to allow room temperature chemical bonding of materials such as silicon, silicon nitride and SiO2. The surfaces to be bonded are polished to a high degree of smoothness and planarity. VSE may use reactive ion etching or wet etching to slightly etch the surfaces being bonded. The surface roughness and planarity are not degraded and may be enhanced by the VSE process. The etched surfaces may be rinsed in solutions such as ammonium hydroxide or ammonium fluoride to promote the formation of desired bonding species on the surfaces.

Method for low temperature bonding and bonded structure

The semiconductor community is developing three-dimensional circuits that integrate logic, memory, optoelectronic and radio-frequency devices, and microelectromechanical systems. These three-dimensional (3D) circuits pose important challenges for thermal management due to the increasing heat load per unit surface area. This paper theoretically studies 3D circuit cooling by means of an integrated microchannel network. Predictions are based on thermal models solving one-dimensional conservation equations for boiling convection along microchannels, and are consistent with past data obtained from straight channels. The model is combined within a thermal resistance network to predict temperature distributions in logic and memory

https://nanoheat.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/A80.pdf

Integrated Microchannel Cooling for Three-Dimensional Electronic Circuit Architectures

Three dimensional metallization for vertically integrated circuits

The technology to realize Vertically Integrated Circuits (VIC) utilizing interchip vias for the electrical interchip connection in a wafer stack was developed To achieve this advanced 3D integration technology the designated top wafers in the wafer stack were thinned down to 10μm and glued onto the planarized bottom wafers. The realization of the interchip via concept providing vias through the thinned top wafer required the development of plasma etching processes with minimized RIE lags for dielectrics, single crystal silicon, and for the interchip glue layer as well as of extremely highly conformal deposition processes for dielectrics for lateral electrical via isolation with a double dielectric spacer technique and for TiN and W to realize the vertical interchip metallization by void free via refill applying a high aspect ratio W plug technique. The developed technology utilizes CMOS compatible processes exclusively and requires no wafer backside processes.

R. Popp

Papers

Three dimensional metallization for vertically integrated circuits

Vertically integrated circuits : A key technology for future high performance systems